While Decker declined to offer any specifics on how many subscribers Game Pass has or how much money it is making, he did say that Microsoft is happy with the results. “We also have our own ideas and big goals and thoughts around where we want to bring the program,” she said. Early on, players complained about how slow downloads were, so Microsoft added fast-start, which allows a game to be played before it finishes downloading completely. Since launching, McKissick and her team have been busy tracking the issues users bring up about the service and doing their best to solve them. One gamer told us that you never know what your next favorite game is going to be.” “What we love about Xbox Game Pass is that you don’t have to choose one game you can snap between different games in the catalog. “We wanted to reduce the friction and barriers for people who wanted to play games. “We’re happy with what we could do in the first year,” said Ashley McKissick, head of Xbox Game Pass. It’s been a busy 12 months for Game Pass.

And in the past week, Microsoft announced an app for browsing the games in the service. This January, Microsoft announced that going forward, all new Xbox One games from Microsoft Studios would become available to Game Pass members the same day they go on sale globally. Last year at Gamescom, Microsoft extended the service to eight more markets. Since launch, the service continues to add new titles and rid itself of some, expanding the variety of games and the genres that they represent. By paying a monthly fee, currently set at $10, subscribers could play included games without the need to purchase them. Microsoft launched Xbox Game Pass in 31 markets on June 1, 2017, as a monthly download gaming subscription service with unlimited access to a library of about 100 Xbox 360 and Xbox One games. “But we are seeing both purchase and subscription increases as a result of Game Pass.”

“People might think (Game Pass) is competitive,” Decker said.

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